Philip & the Etheopian Eunuch

Recap:

The amazing grace of God at work among the Samaratians had caught the attention of the Apsotles in Jerusalem!

No doubt the good news of the Gospel taking root was welcomed by the Apostles

Since they too were feeling the affects of the Saul’s persecution of the church

But this had to be checked out, this had to be authenticated, validated, and seed with their own eys

So as they arrived they beheld people recieving the grace of God, the free gift of their salvation!

But somthing was missing from the equation!

They had not yet recieved the Holy Spirit

Why you might ask?

Don’t we recieve the Holy Spirit the moment recieve the free gift offered by Christ!

The answer is yes!

So then why did they was the question last week!

Becasuse in this moment in the church history God was going to use the Apostle through the laying on of hands and prayer to give the Holy Spirit

For a couple of Reasons:

First to validate the ministry of Philip

Second was to avoid a schism in the church

The is was vital to avoid in the early histroy of the church as the Jews and the Samartians weren’t exactly friends!

So to avoid a schism and divide and potentially a divided church moving forward it was vital to a healthy and thriving church

to have the Apostles not only validate the ministry of Philip

but to acknowledge and recognize that what was happening was from God

But as all of this was happening Simon, a new convert from the occult, was seeing all of this happenign he thought to himself how can I get some of this power!

So he offered the apostles money to buy the ability to dispense the Holy Spirit.

But this revealed that even though we are saved, redeemed, regenerated! That we still have an old man, flesh, sin nature clinging to us!

Tempting us to do things, say things, think things that are ungodly

wanting to rivive sin in our lives

Desiring to pull us away from God!

And when sin, our sin nature rear it’s ugly head, the thing we need most is a stern rebuke and call to repentance.

Which is what Peter does!

Peter spoke the truth to Simon

Not concerned so much about his feelings but about his spiritual health and well being

Knowing that his fellowship with the Lord was at stake!

And what I love about simon is he isn’t offended and taken aback by the words of Peter

Rather he heeds them as a rebuke for His good!

He repents and turns from his sin and allows God to work in His life!

Introduction:

I remember being a new believer and hearing the phrase “God’s just getting started”

Granted it was usually at a worship service, Christian Concert, or some other event trying to get youth excited for Jesus

But when God begins something he plans to see it through!

He’s not quiting

He’s not gonna do a half way job

He’s not gonna give up on us!

Another thing I love about this idea of “God’s just getting started” is that it reminds us of God’s desire to be moving forward with His work!

Just as God didnt intend for the Gospel to stay in Jerusalem it went to Judea then Samaria

But God was just getting going!

He desires to see a Gospel revival in the heart of every man woman and child

He desires that every person spend eternity with Him

He desires that those who have been saved carry the Gospel to others, that they may hear and believe the truth of God!

This is what makes life with God so great, beautiful, wondeful, and full of meaning and purpose!

We don’t know that plans God has for us!

But He does have a plan for you

You, as a follower of Jesus have a part to place, a ministry to be apart of, bringing the light of the Gospel to a lost and dying world!

The question I have for you tonight is, “Are you trusting God to lead you according to His plan, His purposes, for His glory?”

How will your life be spent?

How will we run the race before us?

How will our lives reflect our trust and dependence on Him when we stan before Him and give an account?

Philip and the Ethopian Eunuch:

The Christian life is one of Obedience:

Acts 8:26 ESV

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.

Now I know this is not the normal way that we are instructed by the Lord today!

We walk by faith (As Philip Did)

Listening to the Word of God (As Philip Did)

Trusting God and His leading (As Philip did)

Even though there is not an audible voice telling us to rise and go somewhere

Do we not have the voice of God speaking to us through His Word?

Do we not have the indwelling Holy Spirit leading and convicting us as we walk with Him?

So this morning I didn’t have an angel of the Lord show while I was at the gym and lay out my day!

But that doesn’t I can respond to what he wants for me in any other way than the same way the Philip did

In obedience to the command of God over his life!

Obedience:

Is based upon trust:

Trust in the person and character of God

Trust in the inerrancy of the Word of God

Trust that God’s plan for you is perfect in every way!

So in short, like Philip we obey God not out of obligation but out of a deep love and trust in the one who is calling us to obedience!

I believe that when our motivation for following God is based out of a love for God and a trust in who he is and what he says then, and only then, will we rise like philip and go wher God has told us to!

The Ethiopian Eunuch:

Acts 8:27–28 ESV

27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

What we know about this man!

He was an important government officail from Etheopia

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 8:27

“Ethiopia” here refers not to modern-day Ethiopia but to ancient Nubia, the region from Aswan in southern Egypt to Khartoum, Sudan.

He was in charge of the treasury of Candace

Candace was a title given to the queen mother

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 8:27

Candace was a title given to the queen-mother, as Pharaoh was used of the king of Egypt. Governmental power rested in the hands of Candace, for the royal son, worshiped as an offspring of the sun, was therefore above such mundane activities as ruling over a nation. Rulership was therefore vested with the queen-mother.

He was in Jerusalem to worship!

This is an interesting statement found here in Acts 8

First Eunuchs were prohibited from entering the assembly of God

Deuteronomy 23:1 ESV

1 “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

Yet God promises blessing to Eunuchs in Isaiah 56:3-5

Isaiah 56:3–5 ESV

3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

It is clear that this Eunuch from Ethepia was a worshper of the one true God, yet was more than likely not a proselyte Jew.

He was sitting in His chariot reading the Prophety Isaiah!

Go Philip Go!

Acts 8:29–30 ESV

29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

So as Philip is literally walking in Obedience to the Lord come upon this Eunuch reading the Bible and the Spirit says to Philip - “Run boy Run”

You need to be on that chariot

That is where I want you to be!

So Phiip ran over to the Chariot where the ethopian Eunich was reading the Scriptures

As it was normal or customary to read out loud Philip could hear the passage which the man in the Chariout was reading!

Do you understand what you are reading?

Now I want draw attention to this phrase tonight because I think it is one that is not asked enough in our evangelism today?

It is often times dangerous and neglectful to assume that every understands the text of God’s Word?

So Philip asks this man on the road if he understands what he was reading:

Not being rude

Not being a know it all

But Philip was assessing the understanding this man had while simultaneously offering his help if needed!

I think we can be a lot like the Ethopian can’t we?

We can read sometimes and not really understand

We can read and not gain the wisdom of the Scriptures

But if we only ask, if we only seek the counsel of someone wiser and more knowledgeable the ourselves

We might glean more than we ever imagined from the Scripture

How Can I Understand Unless Somone Guides Me?

Acts 8:31 ESV

31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

When we as Followers of Jesus are willing to follow Him, when we are willing to walk in obediene, we will and can be used of God in ways that we never thought were possible!

He can use us to teach others, to save others from teh clutches of Hell, we can see lives transfromed.

But the question is, are you willing, are you willing to step out in faith and be used of God!

He wants to use you your life to aid in the lives of others

He wants to use your life for His glory!

And there are many people out there who just need to have the truth of the Scriptures explained to them like the Etheopian in his chariot!

So what exactly was was this Ethopian reading

Isaiah 53:7–8 ESV

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

Now we know that Isaiah 53 was talking about Jesus!

The one who was led to the slaughter for us!

Yet he said nothing

He didn’t his oppressors for he knew what needed to be done!

He went willingly knowing it was for he knew what we needed to be saved!

He knew that he had to die so that we might live!

I can almost picture the excitment that would have been in Philips chest, as he knew that he was being afforded the opportunity by God to share with this man the trugh about Jesus!

Acts 8:34 ESV

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

And there was the golden question:

Who is the passage taking about?

Now I am pretty sure that Philip wasn’t going to pass on that opportunity!

Philip Preaches the Truth:

Acts 8:35–37 ESV

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

This is such a beautiful and simple representation of our mission our aim our purpose as Christians

We take the opportunities that the Lord puts before us to share the life saving message of the Gospel with those who need to hear it!

But Notice how Philip simply shared the truth, and let the Spirit of God convict his heart and show him his need for a savior

And without hesitation with his New faith the Ethopian Eunuch, sees water and wants to be baptized!

Acts 8:38 ESV

38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

Then Something Unexpected:

Acts 8:39–40 ESV

39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Could you imagine what it would it would have been like if you were the Eptheopian at that moment!

You have just believed, you were just batpized and the guy doing the baptism disappears from the water!

The Eunuch was not to see him again!

But that wasnt it for Philip:

he went on th Azotus then to Caesarea preaching the Gospel!

Conclusion:

As we conclude this evening I want us to take away a few things!

Obedience is never going to let you down

Obedience will take you to the places God wants you to be

Obedience leads you to see the Lord at Work in ways that we could never imagine!